Improvement in boot-jacks



H, N. couxuu.

Boot-Jacks.

No. 158,911. r v Patented-J nJs avs.

'WITNBSSE INVENTOR v I i I Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY N. OONKLIN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOT-JACKS- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,911, dated January 19, 1875; application filed June27, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY N. GoNxLIN, of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Boot-Jacks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a partof this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawing is a representation of a longitudinal sectional view of my bootjack. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View of the same.

This invention has relation to boot-jacks; and the nature of the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement, in connection with a base-board, of griping-arms hinged thereto, which close together upon each other to hold aboot and allow a foot to be withdrawn therefrom when pressure is applied to the said arms by the other foot, and which are opened to admit a foot between them by means of springs working between the said arms and the base-boards, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the annexed drawings, A designates the base-board of my improved boot-jack, which is preferably of oblong form, and is wedgeshaped in vertical longitudinal section. B designates the upper griping-arm of my improved boot-jack, having a shank, b, of the same width as the base-board, and agripingjaw, b, the end 6 of which is bent inward, as shown in Fig. 2, for a purpose hereinafter to be explained. Upon the lower surface of the said shank a longitudinal depression is formed, into which is received the shank c of a second griping-arm, O,having a griping-jaw, c, of similar construction to that above described, so that the shank b shall overlap the shank c. H designates hinges of suitable construction,

by means of which the lateral edges of the shanks of the said griping-arms are connected to the base-board A. S S designate helical springs, which are applied in corresponding circular depressions in the upper surface of the base-board A, and in the under surfaces of the shanks b c of the griping-arms B O, by means of which the said arms are thrown up into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, for the purpose of separating the griping-jaws and permitting a boot to be conveniently inserted between them.

I have preferably used a helical spring for this purpose, but I do not confine m yselfthereto 5 I may use a rubber or other spring at pleasure.

It will be seen from the above description that when the griping-arms B G are not subjected to downward pressure they will vibrate upward upon the hinges H to the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 3, which will cause the ends of the griping-jaws to be separated.

If the toe of a boot upon the foot of a wearer be now inserted under the inwardly-bent ends e c, and the heel thereof placed in the opposite rounded ends e c of the griping-jaws b c, and downward pressure he applied to the shanks c b of the said griping-arms, the heel of a boot will be rigidly held and the foot withdrawn therefrom with ease and comfort.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a bootjack, the combinatiomwith the baseboard A and the spring S S, of the grip ing-arms B 0, having overlapping shanks b a, substantially as specified.

' In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY N. OONKLIN.

Witnesses:

J. M. MYERS, J. M. MOOLAIN. 

